In the age of eye-opening documentaries like Food, Inc. and Farmaggedon, you’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed and defeated as to the state of the food systems in our country. It can be hard to believe that anything wins anymore except profit, profit, profit, ever slimming the margin between good business, good food and healthy communities.

Then we discovered Los Angeles’ Food Policy Council. They exist to heighten civic engagement between communities and policy makers to ensure that fresh, sustainable, ethical food (otherwise known as Good Food) isn’t a luxury but a right, fully accessible to everyone. We had to chance to chat with the council’s executive director, Clare Fox, for an empowering look at the change that’s taken place in southern California and, hopefully, across the country. Read on, below.